Start of Something Good
by Synthea Black
Summary: When Riza tries to protect Roy from a sniper, they're both hit.  What will be the repercussions. Will they find out, that because of Riza's sacrifice, that there really is something else there besides a colonel and his lieutenant?
1. 1 Sacrificing

"Lieutenant!"

"Second Lieutenant Hawkeye!"

"Lieutenant Hawkeye!"

"Hawkeye! Do you have eyes?"

Riza tried to respond, pushing through the hundreds of people gathered for the ceremony. The promotion. A speech was being given, it was the perfect opportunity for an assassination attempt on the new Brigadier General's life…

The man charged the rifle he held in his hands, leaning over the square in Central City was hot and muggy. All in black, hiding in the shadows, the only thing to identify him being there was the nose of the rifle sticking an inch out into the sun. He focused his site on a disturbance in the crowds. Someone was running. A woman.

His eyes widened a fraction. Shit. They'd figured it out. He knew they were bound to figure it out, but he didn't think that they'd be able to respond this fast. His time was now. He lifted the rifle to his eyes, balanced expertly on his shoulder and aimed at his target. A black haired man, with eyes to match.

"Lieutenant! Tell me you have the target! Get him off that podium, NOW!"

Riza gulped in air. They had switched the site of the ceremony. It had to have been an inside job. It was supposed to be in the East Sector, why had they changed to the west? Everyone knew. Everyone knew except for the promotee's bodyguards. How could they not have been told?

It was a full out ten mile sprint from one sector to the other. She hadn't wasted any time once they found the East Sector to be almost completely deserted. She had sprinted off, someone yelling after her, "West Sector!" And so she ran.

"COLONEL!" she yelled, but it came out as a harsh whisper. Some people next to her stared at her like she was crazy as she shoved them aside. Her throat was dry and her lungs were exhausted. Her lungs screamed for air, her body ached, her legs felt like lead. She had sworn to protect that man. She couldn't stop just because she couldn't breathe.

"COLONEL MUSTANG!" she yelled. He looked at her and she finally felt some hope. His black eyes hitched from happiness to confusion to fear. She shoved people aside, throwing them to the ground, "Get out of the way!" She screamed desperately.

Aim. Thought the man above. Aim well, you get one shot. Make it count. The blonde woman made it onto the stage just as he squeezed the trigger.

The gunshot shattered through the sounds of cheers for the man that hit the ground not moments later. Someone landed on top of him. There was an agonizing pain in his chest. There was something leaking on his body. It was suffocating. The screams as people ran off in different directions in a terrified frenzy. The weight that was on his chest and the hair that was brushing against his cheek.

Blonde, tinged red.

He coughed, blood spurting from his mouth. The pain in his chest swelled as the person on top of him moved. His vision began to fade. Blonde, he could see blonde. And brown. Brown eyes. They started to fade.

"Colonel!" Riza yelled, ignoring the pain in her shoulder. How could this have happened? She was willing to give her life for the man and had flung herself in front of him. Why was she still alive and his eyes were blurring?

"Colonel Mustang!" she screamed, much to her embarrassment her voice cracked.

"H…Hawkeye?" was all he could get out, blood spilling down a trail of red from the corner of his mouth.

"Sir…" Riza felt her eyes start to blur with tears when the black in eyes started to turn grey, "HELP! Please, somebody help!" The panic in her voice was evident to anybody that had been listening. She pulled back, placing her hands over the hole in his chest, blood soaked her hands. It turned them red, staining them forever. The hot, thick liquid leaked in between her fingers as she tried to hold it in.

"You're alright?" he coughed out.

"What? Sir, don't talk." She choked out through the tears that she couldn't control.

"I'm glad you're alright. And you didn't have to die for me." His lips tilted upwards a bit.

"Colonel? Colonel? Don't die, listen to me. Sir!"

Tears dripped onto his face as he looked up into her blurry eyes. He coughed, his body wracking. It was a sound that would haunt her forever. Blood sputtered from his mouth and his eyes shut.

"Colonel?" she screamed.

Fuery ran into the now almost empty square. There were two people on the stage. Neither of them was moving. He called for an ambulance and ran onto the stage. He slowed when he heard the sound of sobbing.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye?" Fuery said, trying to get his voice out louder.

Her form was shaking, her right shoulder and arm were covered in blood. She was on top of someone's body.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye?" Fuery said again, stepping a little closer.

"Fuery…" Kain Fuery had never heard his superior say anything in that tone of voice. Riza looked up, her face soaking wet with tears. She lifted her hands. They were shaking uncontrollably and covered in red. Fuery's mind went blank as he saw the blood leaking across the stage to his feet. It had covered Colonel Mustang's blue uniform, making it look almost black.

"I…I couldn't…" Riza choked out, more tears came, "I didn't get here in time…"

Fuery fell to his knees, barely registering Breda's voice over his radio telling him they'd caught the sniper in the Central City Bank. The men from central hospital could hear her scream of rage as they came running onto the scene. The pain and anger in her yell echoed through the courtyard as people finally started to gather around.

"Please miss…" one of the doctors said, putting a hand on her left shoulder.

They tried to pull her off. She yelled in protest sending a useless sling of her hand behind her. She gripped at her superior's jacket, "You promised! You told me to follow you to the end! This isn't the end, Mustang! Don't go where I can't follow! Damn it, Roy Mustang, wake up!" Her cries and tears started to interrupt her speech, "Wake up! Please!" They pulled her off, trying to get her to the ambulance.

Riza looked down at her hands through the blurry tears in her eyes. It was his blood. It was on her hands. _His_ blood.

The bullet had gone straight through her shoulder, barely nicking her, and hit him square in the chest. She vaguely heard the doctor say that if she hadn't been there than it would have pierced his heart immediately. That there'd be zero chance of him living if she hadn't been there. That meant there was still a chance of the Colonel living. She barely registered the information in her stunned phase. The man pulled a bandage around her shoulder as she stared blankly ahead.

His blood. It was still on her hands. She looked down. All she saw was red, it covered her hands and most of her arms. His blood was on her hands.


	2. 2 Breaking

Riza Hawkeye walked to the bathroom, ignoring Rebecca's calls of concern behind her. Her steps were urgent and rushed as she tried to keep a level head. She checked the stalls. Empty. She pulled the broom through the door handle and leaned against the door feeling the tears well up and slip down her face.

She ran to the sink and pulled hot water on. She desperately ran her hands underneath the steaming liquid, clawing at her hands with her fingernails. Get it off, get it off, _get it off_, she thought desperately. She could still see the red blood on her hands though it had washed off days ago.

Her sobs echoed in the empty bathroom. Riza sank to the floor, her hands still in the running sink water. Her burning, feverish forehead leaned against the cold sink. She squeezed her eyes shut, they burned from all the crying she'd done in the past six days.

"Riza!" she heard at the door, "Hey, Riza!"

Riza turned her head away from the door when she heard Rebecca kick it. It slammed open and Riza felt someone's arms around her.

"It's okay," Rebecca said, pulling the other woman into her arms as she hacked out dry sobs. She was done crying. She had no tears left.

She hadn't let anyone see her cry. Only Fuery had seen her cry that day. Until she went to Rebecca's apartment. She had finally broken down on the third day.

Riza opened her eyes and tried to remember where she was. The room she was in was dark and she could hear a faint, steady beeping. Then she remembered and she jerked in surprised. She'd fallen asleep at the hospital. In his room. She had been laying her head on the side of his bed, just trying to listen to his uneasy breathing. She must have fallen asleep. Riza looked up to where he lay; asleep. His black hair was completely…well, ruined. He probably would have lit something on fire if he could see it. It was all rustled and out of place.

Riza stood and blinked, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. His hair still looked soft once she had helped wash the blood from it. She reached out and barely touched the tip of his hair, then pulled back with a sharp jerk. This was stupid. What was she doing? She looked at his face. She so desperately wanted to see his eyes open. To remember what they looked like when he was angry, or when he smiled, or when he gave the enemy a cold stare. She would even be content with a sarcastic look or smirk, but she couldn't get his desperate, dying eyes out of her head.

His heartbeat was slow, but steady now. Riza could see the outline of the large bandage wrapped around his chest. It just barely peeked out above the white linen sheets. The hospital smelt of alcohol and medicine. The smell of iron, from his blood, was very faint, but prominent enough to make her sick.

She looked at the clock and felt her heart sink. It was past seven p.m. She'd come during her lunch break. Riza sighed and tucked her clipboard under her injured arm and opened the door with the other. She looked back, watching Roy breathe for a few more moments until she walked out.

Riza's boots squeaked on the floor of the empty tiled hall of the hospital. She turned a corner and ran into a young doctor.

"Sorry" was all she said, unusually cold for her.

The young man looked up from picking up his clipboard and handed her hers. She put it under her arm again.

"I've seen you here a lot recently, haven't I?" he said. His large blue eyes seemed tired, but kind.

"Yes, my superior is here," Riza said, ready to go home. She would still have to go to work to grab some papers. Fuery might still be there…

She realized the doctor was talking, "What?" she said, "I'm sorry."

He smiled and said: "Nevermind. I'll see you around. By the way, I'm Doctor Cory. Let me know if you or your superior needs anything."

"Thank you," Riza's arm began to throb in its usual fit of pain. Once he'd turned around she gripped her shoulder through the sling and bandage. Making sure there was no one around, she winced.

She walked her way to the office, up all the stairs and down the hall to the office. The light was on. She opened the door with her left hand. Fuery looked up from his desk. His black eyes were huge behind his glasses. "Lieutenant," he said.

Riza didn't answer. She felt like she was being rude, but didn't want to explain why she'd been gone for seven hours. She grabbed a stack of paper from her desk and carried it carefully with her good hand into the colonel's office. She kicked the door closed with her foot and stacked it on a pile near his deserted desk. She grabbed the small pile atop of his desk so she could take them home to sign for him. She would tell people that she'd gone to the hospital for him to sign them. She'd known his signature for years since he kept falling asleep while filling out forms.

She opened his door with the folder under her arm. She locked the door behind her and looked up to find that Fuery had left. The office was dark and she could bet the whole building was empty at eight o'clock. She scooted down the door behind her and sat on the floor. She pulled her knees up to her chest and stared into the empty space of the office, feeling the tears build up.


	3. 3 Thanking

The first thing Roy Mustang was aware of was the agonizing headache he had. Then he moved his legs and felt the agonizing pain in his chest. He opened his eyes and then closed them immediately. God that light hurt like hell. He squeezed his eyes shut, then carefully opened them again. He could see so much white. A white ceiling, white walls, white through the windows from the sun. And then there was blonde.

He looked down to the side of his bed where she was laying with her head in her arms on top of his bed. The chair she was sitting in looked hard and uncomfortable. Her uniform was un-ironed—so rare for her—and her hair was falling out of its clip. Her face was hidden in her arms.

Roy could hear her breathing, slow and paced. She was asleep.

He tried to sit up gently. Her head snapped up, "Colonel!"

Riza's eyes were hollow from her lack of sleep. And they were red, from what he would have said was crying, but he couldn't bring himself to believe that. He'd only seen her cry but once in all the years he'd known her.

"Lieutenant" Roy said, feeling his numb throat come back to life, "How long has it been?"

"Nearly eight days, sir" she said, sitting upright in her chair.

"And you've been here that whole time?" Mustang asked. He knew that she was loyal, but eight days of sitting in a chair, watching him sleep…

"Not the whole time, sir."

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Just a scratch" she said, her left hand moving slightly to her right arm. He could see that she was holding it stiff. As though not to move it too much. There was a sling in the chair next to her.

"You took a bullet for me," Roy said. It wasn't in the form of a question. It was a statement.

"Just a nick, sir. Obviously it didn't do much." Riza stood and pulled the chair back to its place against the wall and grabbed the sling.

"I think it would have been a lot worse if you hadn't been there, Hawkeye" he said as she walked to the door.

She stopped, "It could always be worse. Now that you're moving around. I think I need to get to work on some paperwork."

"Lieutenant" he said to the almost closed door.

It opened again, "Sir?"

"Thank you"

She nodded.

Roy sat in his hospital room. He was staring at the papers that Hawkeye had left on his food tray. He didn't even want to eat the food that lay beside the hated stack. That would be acknowledging that he knew it was there. His subordinate was always work, work, work. She hadn't even come in to actually talk to him ever since he had woken up. Every day she would bring in a stack during her lunch break which she expected to be finished by the time she came back the next day.

He kept coming across forms that had already been signed, but dated when he had been unconscious. He asked her about it the next day when she came in, still holding a stack of paper with her left hand.

She said, "The papers were piling up. We've been together for years and I've been forging your signature just as long, sir."

He stared at her as she thunked more papers on his food tray.

"Are these done, Colonel?" she asked, pointing at the stack she had brought yesterday. He nodded, feeling kind of dazed. He had never known that. It surprised him to no end that she was willing to actually forge his signature.

"Really? Sir, you're more efficient in the hospital than you are at work."

Roy could barely see the spark of a smile as she turned away. "Did you just smile, Lieutenant?" Roy asked, a famous smirk crossing his face, "That's very rare for you."

He'd never seen her blush until that day, "Sir, you should get to work," she said coldly, walking out the door.

"Fuery told me you cried again!" Roy yelled.

He was answered by a slammed door.


	4. 4 Recovering

Riza glanced up from her paperwork and rolled her eyes. That idiot. She looked around the room. Breda had clocked out early. And Fuery had gotten a date that afternoon so Hawkeye had told him to leave early. The office was empty.

She looked at the colonel's desk at the end of the room, by the window. It had grown dark about half an hour ago. The phone had rung for the third time. Roy Mustang had passed out on a pile of paperwork. The pen that had been in his hand had smudged on his last piece of paper. Riza stood up, her chair scraping the floor as she did so. Roy stirred, his eyes closing tighter.

She walked to his desk and placed a small hand on his forehead. It was burning up and wet with sweat. She kneeled down next to him and ran a hand through his hair, "Colonel?" she said gently.

His eyes fluttered open, looking straight at her. His eyes took awhile to focus on her face and once they did he smiled. Riza's brown eyes were filled with concern and her eyebrows were knit together.

Her hand was on his face. They looked at each other for a few moments before she realized and she quickly pulled it back, like she'd been burned. "Come on, sir" she said, pushing an arm through his and pulling him up out of his chair.

He grimaced, a hand moved to his chest. Riza froze. Roy's face turned red with embarrassment, "I'm fine"

"Come on, I'll take you home" she said, helping him out the door which she locked behind her.

"Really, Lieutenant" Roy said, pulling himself from her grip, "I should be able to drive myself home." He fumbled and nearly fell.

"It's no problem, sir" she said, walking them down the stairs and out the front door.

"It's that one" Roy said, pointing to his car as they walked out the door. They both looked up as raindrops began to fall. Riza smiled; something rare to see on her face, "I guess you really are useless when it rains aren't you, Colonel?"

Roy scowled at her jest and made his way to the car.

"I'm driving" she said, pushing him away from the door.

Roy sighed, but didn't argue. He knew it wouldn't make a difference. Riza climbed in the driver seat and turned on the ignition as Roy climbed in the passenger seat. He tried to hide his pain when he climbed in. She looked away when he grimaced, so he didn't think she'd seen.

Ten minutes later they pulled up to his large apartment and she parked his car. She looked over to realize that he'd fallen asleep. Riza felt her lips quirk to the side in a small, relaxed smile. She leaned over and fished in his pockets for the apartment key. It was in his jacket pocket. His eyes snapped open with surprise. She hadn't realized how close they were until she really looked at him.

"Hawkeye" he said.

Riza blinked. Their noses were barely inches apart. She pulled away, breaking the connection that she didn't want to notice. The keys in her hand, she stepped out of the car.

The man at the counter gave her an odd look as she helped walk the colonel into his apartment building. She nodded to the man at the desk, he looked back to some paperwork. Roy was out of breath by the time they walked up the first flight of steps.

"I'm only on the first floor, Lieutenant" he said. They walked down the hallway and she clicked his door open, putting the keys on the table by the door. Roy pulled away and slumped down on his fluffy, black couch. He sighed, sinking into the fluff of the couch. Riza stood in the door, the slightest bit uncomfortable to be in his apartment. That's when she realized she'd never been with one of her best friends alone for more than a few hours outside of work.

"Here, let me get you something to drink" Roy began to stand, but Riza put a hand on his shoulder, easing him back into the couch.

"I think I can manage" she said, and walked to the kitchen.

"Second cabinet from the sink on the left" he called after her, "The tap water is clean"

She grabbed a glass then stopped, "Would you like anything, sir?"

"No, thank you" he said, staring ahead of him.

"Sir" Riza said. She knew that he wouldn't like her waiting on him. Especially in his own home, "What would you like me to get you?"

There was a moment of silence when the colonel considered saying 'nothing' again. But he thought better of it, "Water is fine, Lieutenant"

She sat next to him on the sofa, realizing there was almost no other furniture in the room besides a radio and a few tables. The couch was a lot smaller than it seemed to have been earlier as the two sat on it together. Their thighs touched. Mustang stretched his legs out to reach the coffee table. Riza sat, perched, on the edge of the sofa.

"Please, make yourself at home. You don't have to sit there like a statue." He said, drinking the water in one gulp and setting the glass aside.

"Actually, sir, I should probably be on my way." Riza said, standing.

"It's a long walk"

Riza froze, her hand almost touching the doorknob, "I know"

"You can stay here, if you'd like" Roy said, the black in his eyes was unreadable, "I have a guest-bedroom. It's not sheeted but…"

He stood carefully and walked slowly to a closet in the hallway, pulling out some linens. "Come on, Hawkeye. It's about a twenty mile walk. At least"

Riza could see the pain in his eyes as he held the pile of cloth. It was hurting him. She pulled the sheets from his hands. "Go to bed" she said, "You're tired"

He smirked. She ignored the fact that she liked it.

"Alright" he said, and began to walk down the hall. "The guest-bedroom is on the right. Here's a bed-shirt"

He threw it at her from somewhere in his room. It would be big enough to cover her whole body.

"Goodnight, sir" she said and walked down the hall, "Thank you"

"Goodnight, Hawkeye"

She loved the fact that when she spread the sheets out and laid down in them—after twenty minutes of straightening and changing—that they smelled like him.


	5. 5 Awakening

Riza awoke to the sound of knuckles on wood.

"Hawkeye?" she heard from the other side of the door, "It's time to go to work"

Riza sat up, her eyes opening blearily. "What?" she managed. She was not a morning person.

The door opened and Riza looked to see Roy's face inching around the edge of the wood. She saw him smirk.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Your hair" was all he said before he started to laugh.

She lifted a hand, it was all on end. She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as the man in front of her slid to the floor laughing, clutching at his chest in pain.

"What time is it?" she asked, pulling her legs from under the warm covers.

"After seven" he said, sitting there for a minute, looking at her.

"Work's at eight" Riza said, standing and picking up her uniform from the chair by the window. She walked past him, to the bathroom. She ignored the fact that he was staring at her legs. His shirt that she'd worn to bed barely fell to mid-thigh.

She stopped in the door and leaned out to say, "You wouldn't happen to have a spare toothbrush, would you sir?"

"Yeah, here let me get it" Roy walked into the bathroom and reached up and pulled a toothbrush from the top shelf of the medicine cabinet. He never realized how small his bathroom was until they were both in it at the same time. And Riza wasn't exactly fully clothed. He handed it to her and brushed past her. Her chest brushed against his as he eased out the door.

She closed the door with a click before he could say anything.

Ten minutes later she walked out clean and fixed up. Her uniform was a little wrinkled, but other than that she looked completely normal.


End file.
